Strange, Is It Not? Rendering Omar Khayyam Poem by Ravi Kopra
Strange, Is It Not? Rendering Omar Khayyam
Strange, millions of men died telling the road to heaven
And yet none returned even once to show us this road
If after death they themselves reached the preached heaven
Or how maggots ate them with their empty skulls left behind.
-RK
XLIX.
Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who
Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through
Not one returns to tell us of the Road,
Which to discover we must travel too.
-Omar Khayyam
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/24/2024 7:22:52 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Edward FitzGerald's English translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat is a classic. It would have been better if you had followed the rhyming pattern of a Rubai (a, b, d) also. Overall, a nice attempt. Thanks.
Edward FitzGerald's translations are true to the spirit of Omar Khayyam but they are not true translations and do not conform to the original verse. See if you could find the original quatrains in Persian. Fitzgerald often broke the syntax in order to rhyme at the risk of clarity. Classic in what sense? Many British poets have made fun of his translations.